Guernsey funds ‘generate’ £25bn investment into UK

The KPMG report International Capital Flows suggests that funds domiciled in Guernsey help generate £25bn of investment into the UK from global investors.

Commissioned by the States of Guernsey and supported by Guernsey Finance, the report suggests that most of this investment is deployed into long term tangible assets including private equity, infrastructure and commercial property.

European investment managers are estimated to earn £1.8bn (€2.5bn) in fees from managing Guernsey funds, of which £1.1bn is earned by those based in the UK.

Ashley Paxton, co-author and head of Advisory at KPMG in the Channel Islands, said: “We are delighted to have been involved with International Capital Flows, and to have the opportunity to utilise our experience, expertise and network in the funds market to analyse the benefits that the flow of investment capital through Guernsey brings to the UK, European and global economies.”

Deputy Kevin Stewart, minister for the Commerce and Employment Department in Guernsey, said: “The picture that has been built up will ensure a greater understanding of the funds sector, and of Guernsey as an international finance centre. Over the coming weeks and months we will be using the analysis in our meetings in London and Brussels, and with governments, regulators and international bodies – indeed, we are already doing so. Guernsey is a partner of the UK and Europe’s growth and prosperity agenda, and this report emphasises that partnership.”

Dominic Wheatley, chief executive of Guernsey Finance, said: “The report demonstrates Guernsey’s expertise as a funds centre and as a facilitator of global investment into the UK, European and global economies – a message we have been delivering for a number of years. The investment Guernsey facilitates into the UK and elsewhere can bring about significant economic and social benefits to those economies. It is also interesting to note the scale of internationalism of the funds industry itself with 90% of the £1.8bn fees generated from Guernsey domiciled funds going to EU service providers.”

The report, International Capital Flows – International investment into the UK & Europe: the role of Guernsey’s investment funds sector, can be viewed in full here.

Editorial Director of Open Door Media Publishing Ltd, and Editor of InvestmentEurope.
Jonathan has over two decades of media experience in Japan, Australia, Canada and the UK. Over the past 16 years he has been based in London writing about funds and investments . From editing the newsletter of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Japan in the 1990s he now focuses on Nordic markets for InvestmentEurope.